Roger Penrose
For decades, proponents of artificial intelligence have argued that computers will soon be doing everything that a human mind can do. Admittedly, computers now play chess at the grandmaster level, but do they understand the game as we do? Can a computer eventually do everything a human mind can do?
Podcast
The book was brought up during a discussion about AI and the nature of consciousness, where the host referenced its argument that the mind cannot be reduced to a computer. It highlighted Penrose’s use of Gödel’s incompleteness theorem to claim human knowledge surpasses formal systems. The mention positioned the title as a thought‑provoking counterpoint in the debate.
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Podcast
Penrose wrote the book to explore consciousness, using a story about an emperor without clothes as a metaphor; it ended up focusing largely on physics and mathematics rather than the intended biological discussion.
And so I wrote this book called The Emperor's New Mind, which is supposed to be saying, well, you know, everybody seems to be thinking one thing, but the little kid notices that the emperor doesn't ha...
— Episode: #1216 - Sir Roger Penrose
Penrose wrote the book to explore consciousness, using a story about an emperor without clothes as a metaphor; it ended up focusing largely on physics and mathematics rather than the intended biological discussion.
And so I wrote this book called The Emperor's New Mind, which is supposed to be saying, well, you know, everybody seems to be thinking one thing, but the little kid notices that the emperor doesn't have any clothes. So it was that theme of that story which was the basis of the book.
When the book was published, I didn't get letters from young kids. I got letters from old retired people who were the ones who had had the time to read my book. Okay, well, that was a little disappointing, but I'm glad the old retired people liked my book.
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